Whitelawhttps://quiklaw.wordpress.com
From Books to LawSun, 03 Jun 2018 23:02:04 +0000enhourly1http://wordpress.com/https://s0.wp.com/i/buttonw-com.pngWhitelawhttps://quiklaw.wordpress.com
American Ulysses A Life of Ulysses S. Granthttps://quiklaw.wordpress.com/2018/06/04/american-ulysses-a-life-of-ulysses-s-grant/
https://quiklaw.wordpress.com/2018/06/04/american-ulysses-a-life-of-ulysses-s-grant/#respondSun, 03 Jun 2018 22:57:45 +0000http://quiklaw.wordpress.com/?p=2427Continue reading →]]>American Ulysses, the biography of Ulysses S. Grant by Ronald C. White, is a reconstruction of U.S. Grant’s standing in the pantheon of U.S. Presidents. Mr. White’s biography is more biased then most. After his death, the historical image of the Grant, both as a general and as President, was one who was inebriated and, particularly in his second term, corrupt. I have not read Ron Chernow’s recently well-received biography of Grant I found that he too fell in love with his subject in his biography of Alexander Hamilton. There is a pendulum in historical accounts of events and people that often swings too far in either direction.

While not a great biography, it is very readable and does shed interesting information to those who are not mavens of the Civil War period. The positive aspect of the book is that it encourages reading about this defining period of American history which our country continues to relive in subtle ways.

Perhaps most telling about the image of Grant is how the American public felt about him at his death in 1885 and afterwards at the dedication of the Grant Monument in Riverside Park, New York in 1897. Lincoln had a funeral procession in Washington D.C. that had 30,000 people participating. Grant’s procession was in New York City. It started at 10 A.M. and for nine and a half miles it stretched, the head of the procession reaching Riverside Park at one P.M., but the full crowed not arriving until 5 P.M. . The four leading pallbearers were his favorite Union generals, William T. Sherman and Philip Sheridan, and two Confederate generals, Joe Johnston and Simon Bolivar Buckner. At the dedication of what today is known as Grant’s Tomb in Riverside Park, one million people showed up on a cold winter day. In the post-Civil War period, he was considered among the top 3 U.S. Presidents: Washington, Lincoln and Grant.

Grant was poor in business even when supported by his anti-slavery father and brothers and his pro-slavery father-in-law. This lack of skill and judgment was reflected in Grant’s second term, which hosted numerous corruption scandals. Grant never personally profited from these scandals. He was not above patronage, and but for houses that were bought for him by others, he as President, and afterwards, would have lived in abject poverty. Like his predecessors, Presidents were not financially supported by the government.

There are some interesting parallels between Grant’s time in office and politics today.

Up until Grant, the Attorney General of the U.S. was considered the attorney for the President. In 1870 the Department of Justice was established and then the role of the Attorney General began to change.

Andrew Johnson, a Democrat, had a Congress with an overwhelming Republican majority. Johnson wanted to end Reconstruction, particularly the use of the Army effectively exercising martial law in support of the 14th Amendment in the southern states that did not ratify that Amendment. Johnson, was also worried about Grant, who was a popular general and a potential political rival. Johnson also wanted to rid himself of Secretary of War Stanton, who through martial law, ignored Johnson as Commander-in-Chief. Congress sought to protect Stanton from being fired by Johnson and passed The Tenure of Office Act. It override Johnson’s veto of the law. The law provided that cabinet officers were to hold their offices for and during the term of the President by whom they were appointed. Stanton was appointed by Lincoln, whose term was continuing because he was assassinated and Johnson was serving the remainder of his term. Johnson sacked Stanton and asked Grant to replace him. Following chain of command Grant did. During Congressional recess Johnson decided to sack General Sheridan, as military head of the Louisiana District over Grant’s objections. Grant, under the Third Reconstruction Act issued Special Order 429 prohibiting Sheridan’s successor from making civil office appointments of persons who had been removed by his predecessor. In the mid-term elections of 1867 the Democrats did better than expected by distancing themselves from Johnson. Grant, now a thorn in Johnson’s side, wanted to replace him as War Secretary, but did not tell Grant, encouraging him to stay. The Senate Committee on Military Affairs voted to reinstate Stanton. Grant reading The Tenure in Office Act realized he would be fined $10,000 and given a 5 year prison term if he did not resign, was determined to resign. Johnson encouraged him to stay, knowing the consequences to Grant. Grant in private with Stanton resigned and at the Cabinet meeting so advised Johnson, who tried to portray him in the press as going back on his word that he would stay in office. Johnson was impeached, but not convicted by one vote, because there was no serving vice president and the Senate president pro tempore, Ben Wade, would become President. He was a Radical Republican that neither the moderate Republicans or Democrats wanted. Impeachments are political.

I am interested in reading Grant’s Memoirs, which are highly regarded. Mark Twain was instrumental in getting them published and assisted Grant in writing, but did not pen them. The publication of the Memoirs helped support Grant’s widow after his death.

One of the interesting facets of Grant’s life was that after his Presidency, with the financial support of his son, he was able to travel the world. This included not only Europe, but the Middle East and Asia. His entire life he was an avid reader and a lover of the theatre. It is not how Grant is usually pictured as an individual.

As a military leader I am reserving judgment. Fighting in the West he had the benefit of more incompetent Union generals in the East that captured more political and press attention. His Confederate counterparts were less than adequate. He benefited from learning logistics early in his career and tasting battle in the Mexican War. He was a strong supporter of Mexican independence, as he was in preserving the Union. He did not come to an anti-slavery viewpoint until later in the War, particularly after the enactment in 1862 of the Confiscation Act. This law provided that persons engaged in any rebellion or insurrection against the authority of the United States shall have their property confiscated including slaves who shall be deemed captives of war and shall be forever free. The Emancipation Proclamation which did not occur until 1863 had its precursor through military enforcement under the Confiscation Act. Unlike Sherman, who was not averse to slavery, Grant through obeying the law, began to look beyond the mere salvation of the Union. He was progressive about the rights of Native Americans throughout his life.

As a general, his soldiers suffered huge loss of life and devastating injuries under his command. The Union Army overwhelmed the Confederates in both people, equipment, and ultimately in food. General Lee played for time. He hoped that the losses would catch up to Lincoln, defeat him politically, and that a negotiated settlement could be reached. This Grant realized, and forced him out of Richmond, only to defeat Lee at Appomattox. The favorable terms of surrender given to the Confederates at Appomattox, on a relative scale, endeared Grant to them. It is an age-old question of war whether to vanquish your enemy and create subsequent resentment, or to be reasonable to promote future good relations, only for the enemy to later believe they were never defeated.

Civil wars are personal. General James Longstreet, the Confederate general, was a relative of Grant’s wife and was in their wedding party. At West Point, generals on both sides were cadets.

What is clear to me from all history that I have read is how little we were taught in school and, relatively, how little I know-or think I know. Most in generations younger than mine, know far less. Ignorance is dangerous.

]]>https://quiklaw.wordpress.com/2018/06/04/american-ulysses-a-life-of-ulysses-s-grant/feed/0bwhite21Eleven Dayshttps://quiklaw.wordpress.com/2018/05/02/eleven-days/
https://quiklaw.wordpress.com/2018/05/02/eleven-days/#respondWed, 02 May 2018 02:41:40 +0000http://quiklaw.wordpress.com/?p=2423Continue reading →]]>“At the end of The Illiad, Priam visits Achilles to beg for the body of his son, Hector (Achilles killed Hector to avenge the death of his friend Patroclus). Enemies, Priam and Achilles bond over the loss. And so Achilles agrees to give the body back, and to stand down his armies for the time required for a proper burial: eleven days.

Admiral McRaven oversaw Operation Neptune Spear, the raid in Abbottabad, Pakistan on May 2, 2011, that killed Osama bin Laden. According to public record, eleven other raids were conducted that night. This story is inspired in part by that coincidence. We don’t know about those other raids and likely never will.”

The plot in Lea Carpenter’s “Eleven Days” is simple. A single Mom is awaiting word of her Navy Seal son who has gone missing in an action. This well researched novel provides a glimpse of the dedication and training that it takes to become a Navy Seal and to be a parent of one. The relationship, or lack thereof, between Jason’s Mom and his likely CIA operative elder father who abandoned her is maddening. The novel is thoughtful, respectful, but not jingoistic.

For me this novel is about love: the love of a parent for her child; the love of a soldier for his team; and the love of country.

Ms. Carpenter explains how we know black holes exist by their surroundings.

“Sara had looked at those boys that night at Annapolis and thought of them disappearing. There was a war on, and so many of them would join it. Their absence keeps us in orbit, she thinks.”

This book might not appeal to every reader, but I loved it.

]]>https://quiklaw.wordpress.com/2018/05/02/eleven-days/feed/0bwhite21The Largesse of the Sea Maidenhttps://quiklaw.wordpress.com/2018/04/16/the-largesse-of-the-sea-maiden/
https://quiklaw.wordpress.com/2018/04/16/the-largesse-of-the-sea-maiden/#respondSun, 15 Apr 2018 23:45:40 +0000http://quiklaw.wordpress.com/?p=2415Continue reading →]]>“The Largesse of the Sea Maiden” was Denis Johnson’s first published collection of short stories in 25 years and his last work before he died of liver cancer. I never heard of him despite his receipt of the 2007 National Book Award for Tree of Smoke and having been a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize.

The testimonials on the book jacket included Zadie Smith, Philip Roth, Don Delillo, Louise Erdrich, George Saunders and other accomplished writers who all feel unworthy. The first story, “Silences”, makes such self-deprecating comments understandable. It is a series of interconnected vignettes from a shocking dinner party. There is a discussion about the difference between repentance and regret. “You repent the things you’ve done, and regret the chances you let get away.”

This short story collection is principally about repentance. Mr. Johnson plies the fringe elements of our society for his stories. The fact that he was an alcoholic, addicted to drugs, and spent time in a psyche ward, adds authenticity to his characters.

This is particularly true of the second short story “The Starlight of Idaho”. Cass is in a rehab facility again and he is writing to everyone he knows as part of his rehab. He is looking for salvation this time, but his family are almost all alumni of rehabs and penitentiaries, their mother genetically bequeathing her addictions and frailties to her children.

“Strangler Bob” occurs in a county jail. Three inmates are seeking a way out, but Strangler Bob predicts it will all be for naught as they will end up dead.

Mr. Johnson’s stories are in the first person and are conversational in style. Dialogue is often limited. A few of the stories’ principal characters are writers and poets. “Triumph Over the Grave” and “Doppelganger, Poltergeist” are examples. The former is an end of life tale, but is partly about writing. Essentially, you sit down write and ramble. These two stories are somewhat faithful to this theory. The latter story is about an Elvis theory and was not compelling.

“Tree of Smoke” is a novel that apparently takes place in Vietnam during that era for the U.S.. Mr. Johnson’s father was purportedly a liaison between USAID and the CIA. In essence, he was probably CIA. This may have given a younger Mr. Johnson some insight into the world of foreign intrigue. His body work, limited due to his addictions, however is more aligned with the themes in this last collection of his. The first story, and the title of this collection, is worth reading.

]]>https://quiklaw.wordpress.com/2018/04/16/the-largesse-of-the-sea-maiden/feed/0bwhite21A Girl in Exhilehttps://quiklaw.wordpress.com/2018/03/08/a-girl-in-exhile/
https://quiklaw.wordpress.com/2018/03/08/a-girl-in-exhile/#respondWed, 07 Mar 2018 23:22:43 +0000http://quiklaw.wordpress.com/?p=2408Continue reading →]]>“A Girl in Exile” is a retelling of the Orpheus Eurydice legend in the context of Albanian totalitarianism. Recasting classical myths and totalitarianism are apparently themes in other works by the renown Albanian author Ismail Kadare.

Here the prisoner of death is Linda B., a woman infatuated with the principle character Rudian Stefa, a known Albanian playwright who borders on dissidence and is paranoid about incarceration by the State. Linda B. has never met Stefa and engages her girlfriend Magena to get her an autographed copy of one of Stefa’s books. Magena has a relationship with Stefa and Linda B ultimately commits suicide. In a dream sequence Stefa tries to marry the dead Linda B., who plays the Eurydice role.

Linda B.’s family tries to retrieve her interned body from the State cemetery. The point of the novel is captured in this sequence: you are a prisoner of the State in life and in death.

“The Albanian regime was tottering but its laws remained in place, especially the regulations governing prisons and internment. One of these laws was extremely strange, and many people believed it must be unique to Albania. This law concerned political prisoners and internees who died before completing their sentences. Their bodies, even though vacated by their souls, had to continue serving their sentences in the grave, wherever they happened to be, until the end. Only after the expiry of the term of their sentence did their families have the right to exhume them from the cemeteries designated by the state, and take them where they wished.”

The plot and characters in this novel are both thin and contrived. Mr. Kadare’s other works may be better than this novel. If it wasn’t 184 pages I would have given up on it.

]]>https://quiklaw.wordpress.com/2018/03/08/a-girl-in-exhile/feed/0bwhite21Dinner At the Center of the Earthhttps://quiklaw.wordpress.com/2018/02/27/dinner-at-the-center-of-the-earth/
https://quiklaw.wordpress.com/2018/02/27/dinner-at-the-center-of-the-earth/#respondTue, 27 Feb 2018 14:04:41 +0000http://quiklaw.wordpress.com/?p=2405Continue reading →]]>To some extent Nathan Englander’s Iraeli-Palestinian spy novel is an homage to Ariel Sharon. As a spy novel it is more a movie version than one that reflects reality. The novel aims to entertain and in that it is successful. It presents a balanced approach, although it is sometimes from General Sharon’s point of view as he exists in a coma. His massacre at Qibya and his success and rashness are not overlooked.

The principle character is Prisoner Z. He is an American Jew who Sharon has secretly locked away after the Prisoner’s moral balance made him a traitor to Israel. It is the moral difficulty of those at the center of the dispute to try to exist and balance the extremes on each side of the dispute that is at the heart of the novel. This balance is sought through a personal relationship between an ex-Israeli operative and a Palestinian operative. It is a typical love theme found in literature.

I like Mr. Englander’s easy writing style and may search out his other works for pleasure reading. He is a well-known author having been a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize and a recipient of the Frank O’Connor International Short Story Award.

]]>https://quiklaw.wordpress.com/2018/02/27/dinner-at-the-center-of-the-earth/feed/0bwhite21The End We Start Fromhttps://quiklaw.wordpress.com/2018/02/27/the-end-we-start-from/
https://quiklaw.wordpress.com/2018/02/27/the-end-we-start-from/#respondTue, 27 Feb 2018 13:37:26 +0000http://quiklaw.wordpress.com/?p=2401Continue reading →]]>Megan Hunter’s apocalyptic debut novel “The End We Start From” is as the title suggests a renewal short of a phoenix revival. Some have referred to this novel as a female author’s version of Cormac McCarthy’s “The Road”. It is not. Ms. Hunter’s prose is lyrical while being spare. Her story is about motherhood, as “The Road” is about fatherhood. Both are protective of their sons, although this novel’s child is a baby and not a pre-teen. There is no “Mad Max” feeling to this novel, as it is the lack of basic resources to live following a natural disaster that is the principal challenge and less so human predators. Family members disappear, but the story is on an upward curve fueled by “refugee” camps and friends with resources. Throughout the novel are sprinkled elements from creation myths from religious and mythological texts.

At 134 pages it is a novella and could be read in one sitting. The author is a noted poet and has won awards for short stories. As a debut novel it received strong testimonials from Jim Crace, Emily St. John Mandel, Tracy Chevalier, Evie Wyld and others. The praise is well deserved.

]]>https://quiklaw.wordpress.com/2018/02/27/the-end-we-start-from/feed/0bwhite21Oryx and Crakehttps://quiklaw.wordpress.com/2018/01/21/oryx-and-crake/
https://quiklaw.wordpress.com/2018/01/21/oryx-and-crake/#respondSat, 20 Jan 2018 20:12:05 +0000http://quiklaw.wordpress.com/?p=2393Continue reading →]]>“Oryx and Crake” is the first book in Margaret Atwood’s dystopian MaddAddam trilogy. The apocalypse that is the precursor is biological and chemical engineering for power and profit. Genetic alteration leads to hybrid and mutant animals that would make any fan of Greek mythology proud.

I do not read a lot of dystopian fiction, but I consider “The Road” gold standard. It is spare, but highly emotional. “The Dog Stars” also focuses on relationship, and has more of a toned done Mad Max appeal. In contrast, this novel is inventive, but emotionally detached. The reader is an observer, even though it is told through the lens of Jimmy (later Snowman) and his relationship with his childhood friend and master-mind, Crake, and his love interest, Oryx. The society is emotionally detached, so the writing augments it. There is a perception of good and evil, but to the characters it does not exist. With us, or against us, at the corporate level, but is power related. The novel barely explores the underbelly of this society, because, Jimmy, Crake and Oryx has moved into the upper echelon who are detached from this underclass. Crake and ultimately Jimmy inhabit an insulated bubble called Paradice on the compound. As you might expect Paradise is Lost.

I had expectations for this novel because Ms. Atwood is a great writer and the trilogy is acclaimed. While Ms. Atwood is dark and creative as ever, the novel was not a page-turner for me. The conclusion is open-ended as you might expect in a trilogy.

You may not be disappointed. If you have not read “The Road” I would read that first. It is very different from this novel, but is chilling.

]]>https://quiklaw.wordpress.com/2018/01/21/oryx-and-crake/feed/0bwhite21Stay With Mehttps://quiklaw.wordpress.com/2018/01/09/stay-with-me/
https://quiklaw.wordpress.com/2018/01/09/stay-with-me/#respondTue, 09 Jan 2018 11:10:33 +0000http://quiklaw.wordpress.com/?p=2389Continue reading →]]>Ayobami Adebayo’s debut finalist Bailey’s Women Prize novel, “Stay With Me”, about motherhood and patriarchy in an upper middle class family during the cultural and political upheavals in the mid-1980s is a great story. The political coups of Ibrahim Babaginda of his predecessor Buhari are a nominal storyline that principally sets the period. The plot is about a university educated couple that is trying to break from the polygamy and extended family cultural constraints principally imposed by the women victims of patriarchy. The arc of progress for university educated women is evident in Yejide the wife of Akin. After graduation she opens a hair salon, while he obtains office work. In part, this is liberating for Yejide because she is not wholly dependent on Akin’s income, but otherwise both cannot escape male dominance and pride. At the heart of the story is the importance of motherhood in the family and society. It is how Yejide, like her mother is judge.

I do not wish to reveal the plot, although some is anticipated as you read the novel. The story is about characters, particularly the couple and Akin’s mother and brother. Breaking society and family bonds is hard to do. It is evident even in so-called developed Western countries, where women are psychologically, economically, and physically abused by men and the weak women who are their enforcers.

This would be an excellent choice for a book club, or for anyone who wants a good read.

]]>https://quiklaw.wordpress.com/2018/01/09/stay-with-me/feed/0bwhite212017 Year in Reviewhttps://quiklaw.wordpress.com/2018/01/01/2017-year-in-review/
https://quiklaw.wordpress.com/2018/01/01/2017-year-in-review/#respondMon, 01 Jan 2018 13:39:05 +0000http://quiklaw.wordpress.com/?p=2366Continue reading →]]>2017 was for me an uneven year of reading. I read 39 books that included novels, short story collections, and a play. A few books I could not finish and two which I started I still aim to complete. The translated fiction that I read were from France, Mexico, Korea, Brazil, and Israel. I read two classics both of which were disappointing: Moby Dick and One Hundred Years of Solitude. My expectations may have been too high.

Miss Burma was prescient about Aung San Suu Kji and her inaction toward the humanitarian plight of the Rohingya. The most challenging read was Compass. It is worth the challenge, particularly if you are interested in the Levant. I can’t decide if it is non-fiction wrapped in a novel. It might take two readings for me to decide. The best short story collection was Claire Beams’ We Show What We Have Learned. The other short story collections were also quite good and it was particularly interesting to read the diversity of styles and cultures reflected in writers such as Penelope Lively and Alberto Urrea. Giraffe may have been the most interesting historical fiction I read, because the history is obscure and it is well written. Exit West was an excellent novel as noted by its appearance on many award lists. For those who a flavor for medical fiction the heart is very human and compelling. If you have an interest in Holocaust related fiction Night and Mischling are good choices. The latter is about Dr. Mengele. For a book club and within the so-called women’s literature genre I would highly recommend Before Everything. It is an end-of-life novel that is a celebration.

Unfortunately I did not have one book that stood apart from the others. On the whole I am not disappointed in what I read in 2017, but look forward to the promise of 2018.

Reading Colin Thubron has encouraged me to read travel literature in 2018. I aim to read Virginia Woolf, more Shakespeare, and perhaps some biography and non-fiction. As always my choices are serendipity, depending on what is available at Brooklyn’s wonderful Central Library. If 2018 is the equivalent of 2013 I will be satisfied.

SS=Short Stories HF=Historical Fiction TL= Translated Fiction

January

The Strangler Vine M.J. Carter HF

Giraffe J.M. Ledgard HF

Abahn Sabana David Kazim Ali TL-France

February

One Hundred Years of Solitude Gabriel Garcia Marquez

The Lost Civilization of Suolucidir Susan Daitch

March

The Year of the Runaways Sunjeev Sahota

Here I Am Jonathan Safran Foer

Every Day Is For the Thief Teju Cole

April

The heart Maylis de Kerangal TL-France

Imagi e Me G ne Adam Haslett

May

Miss Burma Charmaine Craig HF

Do Not Say We Have Nothing Madeleine Thien HF

June

The One Inside Sam Shepard

We Show What We Have Learned Claire Beams SS

Cup of Rage Stefan Tobler TL-Brazil

Mischling Affinity Komar HF

Pond Claire-Louise Bennett SS

July

Sudden Death Alvaro Enrigue TL-Mexican

Malefemmena Louisa Ermelino

Olive Kitteridge Elizabeth Strout SS

Night Elie Wiesel TL, HF

Moonglow Michael Chabon

August

Autumn Ali Smith HF

Days Without End Sebastian Barry HF

September

Human Acts Chun Doo-hwan TL-Korean

Exit West Moshin Hamid

Judas Amos Oz HF

4321 Paul Auster HF

October

Autopsy of a Father Pascale Kramer TL- French

Tales of the Ten Lost Tribes Tamar Yellin SS

Compass Mathias Enard TL-French

November

The Water Museum Alberto Urrea SS

The Purple Swamp Hen Penelope Lively SS

The Prague Sonata Bradford Morrow HF

December

Night of Fire Colin Thubron

Before Everything Victoria Redel

A Legacy of Spies John Le Carre

The Wolf of Sarajevo Matthew Palmer HF

King Lear Shakespeare

]]>https://quiklaw.wordpress.com/2018/01/01/2017-year-in-review/feed/0bwhite21Night of Firehttps://quiklaw.wordpress.com/2018/01/01/night-of-fire/
https://quiklaw.wordpress.com/2018/01/01/night-of-fire/#respondSun, 31 Dec 2017 23:21:33 +0000http://quiklaw.wordpress.com/?p=2352Continue reading →]]>Colin Thubron is one of England’s foremost travel writers. This skill is reflected in “Night of Fire”, his first novel in fifteen years. The plot is thin and irrelevant. It is structured as a biography of the fictional tenants of a Victorian house that is burning down. The characters are the landlord, a failed priest, a naturalist, a photographer, a boarding school boy and a traveler. For most of the novel it seems to be a collection of short stories. However, it seems more complex as it slowly progresses.

A theme may be expressed in one line of one of the last stories. “We say that life is a burning house.” What “life” is may be existential. Science is juxtaposed against religious belief, and comparative religious beliefs yield alternative views of reality and existence. In the end, you are not sure if you have read multiple fictional biographies, or a composite of a single life.

Parental abandonment is a common theme in many of the stories. It made me wonder, if the novel is partly autobiographical or merely consistent with the novel being about one life.

The novel begins and ends with the landlord. He is an astronomy buff, and is peering at the celestial wonder of the universe. His other interests align with the other tenants. He is watching a rain of fire in the sky-sixty Quadrantids from a nova that left a dark void.

The Protestant seminarians in the chapter about the Priest, are mostly broken children who are searching for their parent or parental approval through the church. Their theology is confronted by Orthodox Christianity at the monasteries near Mount Athos and by the Rwandan refugees in Tanzania who blend the teachings of the Church with their own orthodoxy. Some find the monasteries to be “a mirror of the celestial world, following a changeless scheme.” The Protestants separate from the dead. For the Orthodox Christians the soul is embodied within the body and the dead are connected to the living.

“The church in this inflamed light, was becoming as they wished: the refraction of God’s universe, inhabited less by men- who had grown small in His worship- than by the supernatural populace looming from the walls and columns, ignited by human prayer, and growing minute by minute closer and more alive.”

The converted refugee Tutsis, consistent with the storytelling of African custom, revel in the Bible, but not in the sermons. They have absorbed more life suffering then can be preached. They have “no concept of repentance or salvation through Christ. Their faith is a narcotic.”

Is belief and memory just a state of mind? Is the world created and destroyed in the brain? The chapter about the neurosurgeon is consumed by these questions. He is to operate on a man who believes he communicates with God through his seizures and is concerned that the neurosurgeon will “cut God out of me with your knife.” The surgeon explains the anatomy of God.

“Rational ideas of God evolve in the frontal cortex, Mr. Peters. The occipital lobe may anthropomorphize God, and the limbic region supply emotional experience of Him. Suppressed activity in the parietal area can induce the conviction of unity with the divine.”

The tenant Stephanie is a lepidopterist. The younger, ignored daughter of a deceased mother and a father who was cold to her. She finds wonder and beauty in the creation of butterflies. She finds love with an older woman. She is the exception to the postulate that the novel is about one life.

The photographer lives in a world of illusions. Like Stephanie his reality is altered from his practical and successful older sibling. His relationships with women reflect his image of them, not what actually appears. Before he is consumed by the fire his drug induced dream has his memories being extracted by forceps, one by one, from his surgically opened head, until his empty shell of a body is suspended and rotates to gaze at him.

The schoolboy chapter continued the theme of children that are mentally or physically separated from their parents. Here the child was placed in an English boarding school while his parents lived and worked in Cyprus. He tried to convince the Head of the school and his classmates that they died. He was reprimanded by the school and his more responsible older brother. He dreamed of a different existence.

“He used to imagine himself a great surgeon who restored the dying, or a missionary leading peoples to God. Nothing was too hard for him. He became a photographer whose creations outshone real life, and an explorer or naturalist who disappeared into the unknown and returned with butterflies as huge as eagles.”

The Traveller ties the other biographies together into a novel and not a group of short stories. An old monk in Tibet conveys a different understanding of life, memory and God.

“Yet no soul existed. There was no lasting human essence, they said. Only the journey itself, the karma of cause and effect. ..”We don’t believe in the existence of God. There is no Creator. There are gods who aids to understanding, but they die. They are illusions.'”

“The world began to thin and vanish with the illumination that led at last to nirvana. It was the self that created its surroundings. And the self too was an illusion: the greatest of all. It was meditation.. that brought this purified vision.”

“‘When people dream … they imagine that all sorts of desires and terrors are real. But then they wake up. The ‘I’ is like that too. It is dreaming illusion.'”